How to Prepare for a Power Outage in Wichita, KS

7/10/2018 (Permalink)

This is an example of a disaster kit which might help you visualize putting together your own.

Wichita, Derby and Andover have all had their share of power outages and water damages caused by power outages. Aside from outages due to historic ice storms most power outages in our area haven’t lasted very long so many people have not taken steps to ensure they are protected in case of an extended power outage. Depending on the severity of a disaster it could take days for emergency workers to reach you which means you should have sufficient water, food, and supplies to last 72 hours. 

Sometimes services such as cellular service, power, water, gas on top of emergency services may be unavailable for hours or longer. Any emergency kit should be able to help you go without until these services have been restored or you are able to leave your home. When putting together your emergency kit these are some good items to make sure you include: 

• Nonperishable food (canned, freeze dried, or dehydrated)
• Baby supplies if you have an infant
• Bottled water
• Flashlights for the family
• Extra batteries
• Battery operated clock radio
• Can opener (not electric)
• List of important Phone numbers
• First-aid kit
• Dust Mask
• Deck of cards
• Duct Tape

Once you have put together your emergency kit make sure everyone knows where it is stored preferably in a central location in your home which you would go to in case of a Tornado or some other disaster. Also you will need to check the batteries and state of the food and water so that you can change out any item which needs it. Of course there are many other measures you can take to be prepared and consulting the Red Cross is a great way to continue to prepare yourself so you can be “Ready for whatever happens”.

Furthermore consult you can consult our blog post about fire safety and our efforts with the red cross to make sure you have your home protected from possible fires.